Users of two exo commuter train connections – the one linking Saint-Jérôme to Montreal and the other linking the metropolis to Vaudreuil – together lost four departures during the morning and evening rush hours.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Unlike subways, commuter trains are rare, and not all pre-pandemic rush hour runs have been rescheduled.
In Vaudreuil, for example, a user who misses the 8:18 a.m. train must wait 30 minutes for the next one. Ditto for all stations on this link to downtown, such as Dorval, Lachine, Pointe-Claire, Beaconsfield, etc.
In the evening, on the train departing from the Lucien-L’Allier station in Montreal, the 4:40 p.m. departure has been withdrawn. Those who can’t catch the 4:20 p.m. one have to wait for the next one, 40 minutes later, at 5 p.m.
In the morning and evening hours, two departures were also removed in the Montréal–Saint-Jérôme corridor.
Jean-Maxime St-Hilaire, media relations advisor for exo, confirms this, saying that these service reductions are linked to the drop in commuter train ridership since COVID-19.
An alleged lack of attendance
“It is exo’s wish to put all pre-pandemic departures back on the schedule for the exo1–Vaudreuil–Hudson and exo2–Saint-Jérôme train lines when traffic justifies it,” he explains.
This decision, adds Mr. St-Hilaire, will be taken in conjunction with the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), which is the organization responsible for financing public transit in the metropolitan region.
How much does a train pass on one line or another cost? In comparison with a number of buses, for example? Mr. St-Hilaire replied that exo is unable to provide this figure, in particular because of the difficulty of separating fixed costs from variable costs.
Stressing that the service before the pandemic was already “very limited during the week and almost non-existent on weekends”, Marc Doret, mayor of Dorval, is sorry and underlines that young people are particularly penalized. “exo’s services are used by residents of Dorval primarily to travel downtown and by students attending school in Montreal West and Montreal,” he says.
PHOTO FROM THE CITY OF MONTREAL WEBSITE
Marc Doret, Mayor of Dorval
Cutting vital services like the exo train service is counter-intuitive and makes no sense, as people will fall back on using the car as their first choice for getting to Montreal.
Marc Doret, Mayor of Dorval
He adds: “Our fear in Dorval has always been that once the REM is in circulation, there will be pressure from the ARTM to reduce exo services even more or even completely stop exo service on the Montreal line. -Vaudreuil, which would be extremely problematic for those who live near Highway 20 from Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue to Lachine. »
“It is crucial for our administration to be able to rely on an efficient, reliable transportation network that meets the needs of users. If we want the population to use public transit, it is essential that trips during rush hour be offered in order to have an impact on mobility and on the reduction of GHGs. We are determined to support our partners in the sector to find solutions to current scheduling issues,” we were told by the office of the Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante.